An electronic trading system (“trading system”) may be used to electronically buy and sell tradable objects. A tradable object is simply anything that can be traded. For example, a tradable object may be, but is not limited to, all types of traded products, such as, for example, stocks, options, bonds, futures, currency, contracts, warrants, funds, and commodities, as well as derivatives and collections of the foregoing.
Typically, a trading system includes an electronic exchange system. During the electronic trading process, a user (e.g., a trader using a trading device) submits a trade order for a tradable object to an electronic exchange. The electronic exchange performs order matching, such that the trade order (or a portion of the trade order) is matched with one or more contra-side trade orders. For instance, a sell order is contra-side to a buy order with the same price. Similarly, a buy order is contra-side to a sell order with the same price. Unmatched trade orders are held in the exchange order book until a trade order is matched or removed from the order book.
In addition to matching trade orders, the electronic exchange is typically adapted to provide market data and trade confirmation data to subscribing trading devices. The market data may include information regarding the inside market, market depth, and previous or pending trades for a tradable object. The inside market is the lowest sell price in the market and the highest buy price in the market at a particular point in time. Market depth refers to the number of trade orders that have been placed for a tradable object at a particular price.